A Multi-Fandom Series of The 1960's

Tag Archives: sir simon milligan

Just me, no music. Discussion about things, hopefully, getting better, and how to keep that going. The importance of correspondence especially.

Clear reasons why I, and many others, lose their tempers. (Gets a bit loud while this is explained. Not really a rant, more an exclamation of disbelief in contradictory behaviour.) Deep appreciation for the nice people and tools for how to avoid the bummer types, too!

“Spoilers” over scenes one through five, in Episode 16, that are being worked on, as well as the intricate technical aspects that make the idea of critiquing them severely unwanted and unwarranted. (Audio Dramatists? Listen up. You’ll probably enjoy this bit.) Plenty of talk about “Hawkeye” finally being included and what’s happening in scene four with him. I’m not concerned about spoilers when it comes to this radio drama. People can barely remember what they enjoyed in all the other episodes, so why worry?

My old internet days, Sailor Moon, chat rooms, etc. Why fans identify with Angelique and some may not even know it.

A reading from me of Osheen’s review for Episode 7 about one year before this podcast, and my hearty enjoyment of that!

Understanding of the idea of “independence” and how much of an illusion that is.

Not included in this podcast is my suggestion here: If you are wealthy and dissatisfied with your life? Please enjoy the film “The Amazing Adventure” with Cary Grant. Thanks. You’re welcome.

For the last couple of days I’ve had my nerves rattled from it basically being known I am no longer allowed to vent my frustrations about this on my own timeline. Apparently this sparks in others the need to come up with some philosophical advice that covers up their own guilt, or their laziness, or lack of attentiveness. I’ve seen it many times before and I’m not buying it. Okay, let’s say I posted that on a group page. I can see the conversation going down that road. However, this was on my wall, my personal news, and so what was the result of this attempt to make me feel better that really was a method of making everyone else feel better? It’s succeeded in pissing me off for over two days now. As a result, the work has gone much slower. (Thanks.)

I was explaining to my husband a plant has more wisdom. If a plant requires more sunlight? It bends toward it. When it senses water in one direction? It reaches it’s roots there. When I’m looking for my nutrients to reach this suffocating Muse? Humans don’t produce that. They produce cross-references. A good gardener knows that if you don’t maintain the nourishment? It’s your own damn fault if the garden dies. But now that we’re flippin’ around so many distractions, we’d rather argue about where that sunlight and water is. Doing that? Not one measly tomato is going to grow for you. I can tell ya that easily.

I remember I did a podcast intro where I said doing this series, The Pit of Ultimate Dark Shadows, had been in a cheaper by the dozen method where I did one part over and over, and then the next, and then the next. Today and yesterday I’m noticing it’s better if I go through each scene and add the bits. I’m adding in Milligan & Hecubus’ new performances, but as I’m finding where to put them, I’m raising the pitch on Angelique’s voice and I’m adding in sound effects just so they’re there and I don’t have to hunt for them later. Some will need augmentation or overlapping with lines, and other lines need to be raised in volume, but so far it’s easier to go through Episode 15 this way.

Hmm, then again, now I’m going passed the Victoria, Morticia and Grandmama lines, although I did supply the bubbling cauldron sound effects. I’m fairly happy with what I’ve got for Morticia and Grandmama. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been viewing the first episodes of The Addams Family again, but it feels like Carolyn Jones wasn’t as deep as I thought, so what I have is likely just as well until I can study for new radio episodes in the future. We need that family.

Then there is a scene of Maggie and Barnabas looking out the window, the Willie & Sarah scene and then Hecubus says:

“And back in Josette’s aquamarine room of many ornate fixtures.”

I think I like the old performance of this more. It’s so cheerful!

Aw, crap… [laughing] This line for Sir Simon Milligan still gets me. Heaven knows *I* have endured the stink-eye from letting Barnabas and Maggie unite in this… I think it’s just the way Milligan manages to announce it when there is a gathering of the clan at the main house of Collinwood:

“One would expect a number of stink-eyes and suspiciously raised brows at the affection our love-bats are obviously NOT hiding from each other or anyone else.”

All right, now I’m just focusing on our two radio-show hosts. There is too much in between I can see that needs to be altered. Maggie’s lines likely have to be re-performed. Ohhh, her chortling voice! How to reproduce that… Well, I can watch or listen to some Josette Dupres as well and see if I can shoot for a cross-blend now since that’s what’s going on. I’ve wondered how KLS might have performed that given the chance. I guess Bella Heathcote was the only one who got an opportunity to experience that blend. Remember, she does say at the beginning of the film:

My work began years before this… Imagine my shock in the theater!

It reminds me that people treat me like a single person when I’m doing the work of an entire production crew. Not cute, people. Not cute. And the very opposite of helpful, too. As Warren told me, “It’s not like you didn’t explain what you needed. YOU DID!” He’s correct. I did, and I do, repeatedly.

Another dear friend on the grassroots list told me, “That entire discussion you sent me made me completely indignant. These are people you sent CDs to? And you also spend a great deal of your time empathizing with their everyday woes and concerns. You don’t deserve that.” Aye, that’s just it. They’re feeling bad about not keeping up and want to blanket it with something.

Guilt exists for a purpose; it’s to make us change our ways. Sadly some people just wallow in it, try to deflect it with various excuses, but those of better judgement? They either change or they stop feeling guilty. Which is what my husband expressed in one of our workshops. That advice has certainly saved me from a world of misery. It’s likely why I have been better at focusing on creative pursuits. But we’re human, we need others to talk to. Not a great deal of that going around between the internet clutter, I must say.

Now I’m seeing some lines I did twice that are doubled up on the old file as well. Most of the demo was performed in December of 2013, possibly November. I remember I lost my voice for a while at the end of that year. Having re-performed the lines this last week it’s good to use those rather than guess which of the previous performances were better. So the scenes are switching and the hosts lines are being spliced in. There is another scene between Willie & Wadsworth here, then there is one with Barnabas Collins finally meeting with the ghost of Caleb Collins at the seaview property. Time period jokes abound here…

Oh, yes, and now that there is another vampire in town, the dogs are howling again, which is going to freak poor Willie Loomis out. Went through all the howling I had to discern what to place in there to format later. Sad to consider all of this hard work will only be enjoyed by a precious few, but then I think I’ve done enough. I’ve served my time only to get numbers, silence, control freaks and haters who speak up more than the people who enjoy it. I was detailing that with a church group, “We seem to be stuck to only detail what we dislike and we go on about that at length. Not so much what we enjoy unless we’re not thinking about it, really. I’d like that to change.”

As for this scene with Caleb and Barnabas, it’s nice to hear a bit of it again. I think after I finish this audio draft I’ll put it on my player. Maybe that will help motivate me more. As Caleb and Barnabas discuss Maggie…

CALEB: She would be the one to help change this place. You’d be sated at last, and she cares about people far more, with a genuine affection. Like Tom, she’s not just a pretty face either. It’s sad how beauty attracts on the outside so much, when there is so much more to it. Pesky, that is.

BARNABAS: But lovely if that combination can be found and admired all at once. ❤

And now to splice in the final Hecubus line, a sadness creeping in. I possibly need to do that over, but I’d say it’s time to save the file, switch it for listening, 57 minutes and all the extras… Not nearly done, but getting there. Could have done more a lot sooner if I had the fun commentary, but ah well. Just have to plug away and await an online change in people… that likely will never occur.

WADSWORTH: Sir? I’ve made an effort to clean your staring window if you’d like to make use of it.

Thanks Wadsworth. I think the clarity is coming from your astute considerations. As aforesaid, in my 14th intro, I’m now doing many of the voices for this radio play separately. Today I listened intently to Jonathan Frid’s performance of Barnabas Collins. I found various inflections I might have missed. He did go through some trouble to bring those H’s in where A’s were applicable to the standard American speech and I also made a concerted effort not to lower my own voice. Jonathan Frid’s voice deserves higher tones of inflection and if it doesn’t sound male enough I can lower the pitch on sentences or various words. I felt good about that.

For Episode 15: A Blundering Succubus, Barnabas Collins had to swat away The Collinsport Fly (another breaking through the 4th wall which I haven’t done for a while), speak with his beloved Josette through Maggie Evans in Josette’s room, try to determine who Kitty Soames is or was, look with her out the window at Willie and Sarah interacting, take Maggie with him to Elizabeth’s family gathering at the Main House to discover she was going on an extended vacation and then meet with…

Cousin Lily

Ah, her casual assertions about vampires certainly gave him the willies!

One of the reasons he even goes into that study where Maggie and Lily are having a chat is because of the coffee they are drinking. Elizabeth tempts him:

ELIZABETH: Cousin Barnabas…(pointedly) it’s Borgia.

BARNABAS: Who?

ELIZABETH: The coffee blend… it’s Borgia…

BARNABAS: (snorts) I see! You really wanted to get me in there, didn’t you?

ELIZABETH: Yes…

And? I have tried SO desperately to find out whether or not this might be accurate, either for Barnabas Collins OR Jonathan Frid. I remember there was a Q & A KLS was holding on a website years ago. I tried to ask, “What coffee was his favourite?” De nada! 😛

After that I called our Auntie. I think I’ll save that conversation for another blog post but it was good. She pretty much agreed with me about the laziness and troubles I’d been having. More complex than that, but worth a blog entry I think.

I am now going through Sir Simon Milligan and Manservant Hecubus’ lines which I re-performed a few days ago. They seemed fine on the demo but I just felt like I should try it again. If anyone has updated themselves with these guys via youtube you might have noticed I posted appreciation to the lady who made it easier for me. (I believe in saying “thank you”. I do not simply like-click shit. lol!) Currently I’m going through those new lines and seeing which ones make the cut. I am leaving a little extra in via stuff I can’t decide on. So far Hecubus’ old lines are remaining here and there. Mostly it will be the new stuff that stays.

Also was on Skype with Cara Mia over the holiday weekend. I read her the new (actually old) scene with Morticia, Victoria and Grandmama Addams. This was excellent because I have a hard time with the Addams Family and need the help. I want to make sure all the characters are accurate. When I got to a line via Grandmama or Morticia I’d ask, “Does that sound like her or them?”

Seriously… I have all of these followers from here from tumblr to facebook. Are you all devoted to low functioning device-technology or is there something more going on? I’d love to believe it’s the latter. So here are the ideas I’ve been with-holding for far too long in how I believe people are so desperately dissuaded from both sending me emails ( xoiscythe@hotmail.com ) or contacting me via all the resources I’ve given, i.e. fanfiction.net, podomatic, iTunes, etc…

Let me know which one fits you… and I am aware there are some fans of mine who are handicapped, disabled, or whatever the new word is for those terms now… The current reasons of avoidance are:

1) I don’t remember how to type.

2) I only have a “phone”.

3) I am on drugs most of the time.

4) I lost my ability to write summaries of what I enjoy because I received less than a “D” via my English classes in High School, but for some odd reason still enjoy reading…

5) I’m a lazy fuck.

6) I was used to page-turner garbage and then you gave us a bigger universe and I don’t know how to cope with that.

8) It’s kind of complex what you’re doing… I’m not sure how to say what I like. [Well, really… just say… anything…]

9) You had those rants for ages. I’m scared of you. [Really? What have I shown in the last 12 months? Everyone who has confessed to being a silent reader I’ve been kind to. I did the research as to why you were afraid to speak. I get it. “Game Over”, as Hudson proclaims.]

10) You have that Angelique crazy troll. I’m scared. Aren’t you? [Nope… What do you think her living in Modesto, California is like? She not only has no friends, she has very little that is comforting to look at. Tatooine came from somewhere in George Lucas’ imagination. ]

I figure this woman has nothing better to do than rot in her self-imposed social isolation. (My isolation isn’t self-imposed.)

Or as one of my buddies has expressed: “LOL! Yes, if there is a bright center to the state of California, Modesto IS,indeed, the place it’s furthest from. Although my memory of Rialto was pretty ghastly, but not like Modesto. Realizing that Lucas came outta there, one has to wonder to what extent Tatooine is Modesto.”

Yes, so many troll reviews that are pro-Angelique later because she couldn’t control a dream already put into place with several years and thousands of dollars before she reached me? No… she is not a helper. She is a fragmented blatter-skite. And frankly, Miss Scarlet I don’t give a damn. Troll away, dumb-ass.

Hopefully that answers any questions on my account. Now the bottom-line? Do you want this blood sucker to continue? I do. Maybe it makes no difference to any of you. Okay, fine. I’m not looking for lurkers anyway. I’m looking for believers and helpers. If you end up with the goodies from their endeavours? So be it. Either way, as I’ve said, this whole series is going to go slower without fun commentary on the hard-to-produce audio episodes.

Hey, maybe you don’t care. I have no idea. But if you do, I’ve made communication with me as clear cut as I can. If you cannot download the audio? I’m offering CDs by mail. I’d prefer pen pals anyway. I have maintained many sites to make this accessible. I’ll be working on this until at least 2017.

Meanwhile…

I am a man possessed by many demons! POLITE demons… who would open a door for a lady carrying too many parcels… but demons NONETHELESS!

Let’s face it. Last year was a ginormous whirlwind of ups and downs. As soon as things were looking up they’d plummet into a cascade of bizarre tragedies and the only thing that saved us was our sense of humour. I want this roller-coaster of a radio drama to be fun again. People put humour out there to get the reaction. And what have I gotten? Massive amounts of numbers, people coming in and giving me Hell, true warriors reaching out to say, “Yes! I want what you have… I just don’t know how to tell you.” And so we go back to the old reliable… The Post Office:

Don’t knock it.

What do you think gets all those bloody online orders to your door? (It ain’t just crazy UPS truck drivers.)

Mind sending your radio hosts a little valentine? The Pit of Ultimate Dark Shadows will officially be three years old this year.

Yes, I had no idea Josette=Maggie/Barnabas was such a fricken taboo! I just saw Sam Evans get foiled, had had enough and wanted a relief series, couldn’t find it and got started taking notes for YEARS! Sometimes even the fans of this pairing get a little too much for me. I chunked the text, rewrote as much as I could, went from demo version to proper podcast version, worked my arse off to find a way to get it to iTunes, spent gobs of money, drank myself into the pickling practices ensued by various members of The Rolling Stones… And…. well you’ve watched me go even crazier from getting high numbers, free advertising by haters having shit-fits, should-love romantic voting polls, assumptions made that I lust after various characters…

Does no one watch actor interviews or writer interviews or comedian interviews in which they detail what they have to go through? Just because this involves Dark Shadows doesn’t mean the same rules don’t apply. It only means they rarely get used for such fan-work.

Guess what? There are a new gaggle of people who have worked in other fandoms, as well as their own original material, and they know those particular rules of how this game is played. It’s not all about “I want this…” It’s about, “They, the characters, want this.”

This is why people in the Addams Family set are so vocal. They know that program could have gone on much longer than it did, and they know Gomez and Morticia. They will take no substitutes for how those two feel about each other nor how they behave. This is why seeking out the Dark Shadows purists was the wrong move for me all along.The purists want endless repeats of the original show. Okay, they can have that. They aren’t who I’m looking for anyway. I’m looking for people who want this:

That’s the new postcard and twice as many as last year.

But why? Because I listened to my demos for years and I finally realized I had something good. Something as good as all the shows involved. The same humour came to me that “Clue” was providing with the hook in to Dark Shadows. Something amazingly huge could happen if only the talent could be nurtured with discussion to what was enjoyed. Why do I need that?

I’m human.

And so far most of what I’ve heard has been the kind of BS I’ve heard most of my life and fought against when I gathered the data to life. Human beings do not exist as islands. We marry, we give birth, we live in a sea of other humans. Just because robotic maneuvers via the internet is fooling you into believing you are communicating? It doesn’t mean you are.

I am more than happy to let the postal service thrive further on my endeavours. There are people who are happier with letter-writing than facebook flippancy. I’d rather this be something that is pursued via the postal service. It’s slower in focus and more concentrated. If I were given the chance to make this a postal service only venture? I would have done it quicker than you could get a fine for spitting on the sidewalk in the olden days.

And as for the olden days, anyone remember when I chunked the story and left a note of this from Lady Catherine de Bourgh?

Ah… doesn’t that take ya back? 😉

Yeah, I was pretty pissed.

Took me quite some time to figure out what the problem was. And why wouldn’t it take so long? I was studying all the characters, all the fandoms, all the technical details, all the research to try and make things better and better. It’s not just writing, it’s audio editing, acting, inflections, listening, vocal training, and then? Getting harassed while everyone else is enjoying the work, meanwhile the creator doesn’t matter but to talk to the more vocal people who mostly just invalidate everything, including your hard working actor/writer/comedienne who can only get paid in commentary?

This is not healthy.

And I shall never believe that it is.

If you put it out there for the reaction? You would know it’s not an island venture.

This argument/claim was created so people could be lazy. However, I do not believe that comprehension skills are so low.

And why?

How would you comprehend my radio series to begin with?

You’re human, too.

Don’t behave as if you aren’t. 🙂

But with my reincarnation studying and what they came up with here:

They were too tight-lipped about what they were doing… really… how could I have known what they decided? So many months earlier. How?

But that isn’t all fun and games… Oh, look. I have to provide more audience applause for Sir Simon Milligan. I have to provide this myself. As it happens with all my listeners, I can’t seem to get applause textually. Yes… bitch, moan, bitch, moan, bitch, moan. Well? If you had such a large and silent audience? Wouldn’t you bitch and moan?

I hope someday Helena enjoys the blooper that came out of this one.

Do recall I had episode 13 finished by 30 October 2014 (having written the text a whole year earlier). Commentary should be forthcoming after all this time… but alas… just numbers…

Loneliness sucks…

Crap, here it comes… even in this one scene. I separate everyone’s performances and have to splice them together. So even though I picked out what I could of the best performed lines, I still had trepidation choosing once and for all which ones? This is why positive support is so important, especially on top of random fools infiltrating my hard work, who have NO experience with radio drama coming to me and dictating what I should be doing. Hey, all y’all? Being entertained and not telling me jack about what you enjoyed? Guess what I’ve had to deal with? Supposed professionals with negative crap. That’s not stressful or undeserving, is it?

The other thing that has to be done is to leave just enough time for silence so listeners to catch their breath before the next bit of humour. Is this appreciated? Who knows? Barely any of these people are discussing the show with me. I have to deduce as per usual…

Ugh… Going back and forth between Sir Simon and Hecubus. With the former lowering the pitch helps and with Hecubus raising the pitch helps. What a pain. And all for what? Someday? I question this Muse who’s taken me over hook, line and sinker.

Okay, I gotta give this tid bit away where Hecubus wonders how Maggie could forgive Barnabas after all his detestable crookedness towards her and how romantic forgiveness could be. “Do you think she will forgive him?”

MILLIGAN: Wellll (rubbing hands) perhaps, or perhaps she is in it for the joy of being able to strike him some more.

HECUBUS: OH! Dear! Master! That ISevil…

MILLIGAN: And what is worse… he may perhaps… like it! Ah… Well, who wouldn’t? At least she’d be touching him!

Not that we encourage such behaviour. This is a story after all…

Ah, and here I come to those metaphoric D&D lines I realized on my way to work. I read them into my phone recorder stepping through the cross-walk so I wouldn’t forget them. And shan’t mention them here. Huh? Do you think this much work listening to The Muse at all hours, losing ten months of sleep, writing, editing, performing, acting, changing audio, getting harassed, and what not? Y’all can just have everything? Well, I guess you can get everything elsewhere… As for Dan Curtis and I? We want something different…

And so I have just finished the bland editing run-through of the intro with Sir Simon Milligan, Manservant Hecubus, and would like to spend the rest of today playing some spooky hidden object game or maybe reviewing Osheen Nevoy’s HARD ass work.

I have been approached a plethora of times that:

1) You need to do this for you. (Why post it online? Why spend all the money?)

2) Maybe people don’t like it. (Why do I have downloads like crazy?)

3) We live in a time of disconnect. (And we should just accept that?)

4) You likely should broaden your social horizons. (Agreed. I work my ass off to do so. So far I have the U.U. Fellowship, but not often enough. I’m sorry. I don’t have a car nor friends with cars. I am lonely. I have a wonderful husband. But two is not enough.)

5) “I don’t understand her.” (No. You don’t.)

Well, I’ve managed to do all of this virtually on my own. Imagine all the other people who do it to entertain you and get paid. I’ve done mountains of research in both history and all of these fandoms. I’ve uncorked things people never bothered with. Am I now suddenly wrong that humans require other human care? I doubt it.

9) Then Wadsworth expressing to Willie his confusion comes from believing all the changes might have come from a single person or one happenstance, when it’s well known life is too complicated than that.

And the ending credits, with the song for Willie I’ve adored since I picked it for him.

🙂

It’s interesting. I started keeping this blog because I barely have anyone to discuss my work with. It has been therapeutic and helping me stay focused. Thanks, wordpress.